Winnipeg to Inuvik Trip -- 2008-June23--July17

Here is map showing the substantial portion of North America we traversed on this trip, along with a day-by-day summary (both planned and actual), and a table showing the petrol prices we encountered on this route (petrol is sometimes called gasoline, gasolene, or regrettably "gas").

MAP: Winnipeg-MB to BeaverCreek-YT and Whitehorse-YT to Inuvik-NT Map Legend:

A Winnipeg MB
B Saskatoon SK
C Edmonton AB
D Dawson Creek BC
E Fort Nelson BC
F Watson Lake YT
G Carcross YT
H Whitehorse YT
I Haines Junction YT
J Beaver Creek YT
L Dawson City YT
M Inuvik NT


Inuvik Trip -- PLANNED Itinerary (4618 + 6903 = 11,521km)

MonJune23 TCH Winnipeg to Indian Head SK
TueJune24 TCH Indian Head to Regina; Hwy-11 to Saskatoon; Hwy-16 to Edmonton AB
WedJune25 Hwy-AB43/BC2 Edmonton to Grande Prairie AB to Dawson Creek BC
ThuJune26 AlaskaHwy(Hwy-BC97) Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson BC
FriJune27 AlaskaHwy(Hwy-BC97/YT1) Fort Nelson to Watson Lake YT
SatJune28 AlaskaHwy(Hwy-1) Watson Lake to Teslin to Whitehorse YT
SunJune29 KlondikeHwy(Hwy-2) Whitehorse to Carmacks to Pelly Crossing to Dawson City YT
MonJune30 DempsterHwy(Hwy-5) Dawson City to Eagle Plains YT
TueJuly01 DempsterHwy(Hwy-YT5/NT8) EaglePlains to ArcticCircle to FortMcPherson NT (PeelRiver ferry) to Tsiigehtchic (McKenzieRiver ferry) to Inuvik NT
WedJuly02 in Inuvik
ThuJuly03 DempsterHwy Inuvik to Tsiigehtchic to FortMcPherson to Eagle Plains YT
FriJuly04 DempsterHwy Eagle Plains to Dawson City YT
SatJuly05 KlondikeHwy Dawson City to Whitehorse YT
SunJuly06 AlaskaHwy Whitehorse to Beaver Creek YT
MonJuly07 AlaskaHwy Beaver Creek to Fairbanks AK
TueJuly08 AlaskaHwy Fairbanks to Beaver Creek YT
WedJuly09 AlaskaHwy Beaver Creek to Whitehorse YT
ThuJuly10 AlaskaHwy Whitehorse to Watson Lake YT
FriJuly11 AlaskaHwy Watson Lake to Fort Nelson BC
SatJuly12 AlaskaHwy Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek BC
SunJuly13 Hwy-BC2/AB43 Dawson Creek to Edmonton AB
MonJuly14 Hwy-43 Edmonton to Lac la Biche and back to Edmonton
TueJuly15 Hwy-16 Edmonton to Saskatoon SK
WedJuly16 Hwy-16 Saskatoon to Winnipeg MB

Inuvik Trip -- ACTUAL Itinerary (4907 + 5976 = 10,883km)

MonJune23 TCH Winnipeg to Indian Head SK
TueJune24 TCH Indian Head to Regina; Hwy-11 to Saskatoon; Hwy-16 to Edmonton AB
WedJune25 Hwy-AB43/BC2 Edmonton to Grande Prairie AB to Dawson Creek BC
ThuJune26 AlaskaHwy(Hwy-BC97) Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson BC
FriJune27 AlaskaHwy(Hwy-BC97/YT1) Fort Nelson to Watson Lake YT
SatJune28 AlaskaHwy(Hwy-1) Watson Lake to Teslin to Whitehorse YT
SunJune29 KlondikeHwy(Hwy-2) Whitehorse to Carmacks to Pelly Crossing to Dawson City YT
MonJune30 DempsterHwy(Hwy-5) Dawson City to Eagle Plains YT
TueJuly01 DempsterHwy(Hwy-YT5/NT8) EaglePlains to ArcticCircle to FortMcPherson NT (PeelRiver ferry) to Tsiigehtchic (McKenzieRiver ferry) to Inuvik NT
WedJuly02 in Inuvik
ThuJuly03 in Inuvik (awaiting Dempster reopening - washout-repair)
FriJuly04 in Inuvik (awaiting Dempster reopening - washout-repair)
SatJuly05 DempsterHwy Inuvik to Tsiigehtchic to FortMcPherson to Eagle Plains to Dawson City YT (2 days in plan)
SunJuly06 KlondikeHwy Dawson City to Whitehorse YT
SunJuly07 AlaskaHwy Whitehorse to Beaver Creek YT
TueJuly08 in Beaver Creek (sidetrip to Fairbanks AK was omitted, to get back on schedule)
WedJuly09 AlaskaHwy Beaver Creek to Whitehorse YT (back on schedule)
ThuJuly10 AlaskaHwy Whitehorse to Carcross (via Hwy-8) to Watson Lake YT (back on schedule)
FriJuly11 AlaskaHwy Watson Lake to Fort Nelson BC (back on schedule)
SatJuly12 AlaskaHwy Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek BC (back on schedule)
SunJuly13 Hwy-BC2/AB43 Dawson Creek to Beaverlodge AB (most of day in Beaverlodge awaiting car repairs; car broke at noon)
MonJuly14 in Beaverlodge (awaiting car repairs)
TueJuly15 Hwy-43 Beaverlodge to Whitecourt AB (most of day in Beaverlodge awaiting car repairs; car ready at 6pm)
WedJuly16 Hwy-43+16 Whitecourt to Edmonton AB to Saskatoon SK (side-trip to Lac la Biche AB was omitted)
ThuJuly17 Hwy-16 Saskatoon to Winnipeg MB

-- note: we encountered two delays of 2.5-days each, however by driving longer days and eliminating 1000km of sidetrips, we ended only one day late.


Table of Petrol Prices & Fuel-Consumption Data

Date Odometer Where Price Litres Dollarskms km/l Notes
June23 40340 Winnipeg-MB n/a n/a 0.000 0.00 000 n/a tank full, jerrycan empty
June23 40767 Broadview-SK Coop 1.399 33.595 47.00 427 12.710  
June24 41416 Maidstone-SK Mohawk 1.368 45.300 62.00 649 14.326  
June25 41904 Whitecourt-AB Shell 1.349 33.955 45.81 488 14.371  
June25 42185 GrandePrairie-ABPetroCan 1.379 21.214 28.51 281 13.245  
June26 42413 FortStJohn-BC PetroCan 1.394 16.862 23.51 228 13.521 missing odometer-reading was estimated
June27 42800 FortNelson-BC n/a 1.499 28.539 42.78 387 13.560 the receipt went missing, but we had notes
June27 43313 WatsonLake-YT CampgroundSvc 1.529 38.620 59.05 513 13.283  
June29 43795 Whitehorse-YT FasGas 1.449 47.430 68.73 482 14.862 15-litres went into jerrycan
June30 44364 DawsonCity-YT BonanzaKlondike 1.681 37.200 62.55 569 15.295  
July01 44780 EaglePlains-YT EaglePlainsSvc 1.780 33.710 60.00 416 12.340  
July03 45247 Inuvik-NT Esso 1.690 40.007 67.61 467 11.672 some "city" driving
July06 46074 DawsonCity-YT BonanzaKlondike 1.679 47.660 80.00 827 13.198 used 15-litres from jerrycan enroute
July06 46466 Carmacks-YT Sunrise 1.589 48.390 76.90 392 13.808 20-litres went into jerrycan
July07 46811 HainesJct-YT Shell 1.599 25.654 41.02 345 13.448 attendant wanted to charge $4.12 due to a typo but I insisted on paying more
July09 47233 BeaverCreek-YT FasGas 1.609 30.020 48.30 422 14.057  
July10 47703 Whitehorse-YT FasGas 1.479 35.030 51.81 470 13.417  
July11 48265 WatsonLake-YT PetroCan 1.529 34.420 52.64 562 16.327  
July12 48791 FortNelson-BC Esso 1.539 37.687 58.00 526 13.957  
July13 49257 DawsonCreek-BC ExtraFoods 1.437 32.752 47.06 466 14.228  
July16 49701 Whitecourt-AB PetroCan 1.349 31.137 42.00 444 14.259  
July16 50143 Lloydminster-AB Shell 1.329 30.016 39.89 442 14.725 missing odometer-reading was estimated
July17 50570 Dafoe-SK TR-Petroleum 1.389 29.030 40.32 427 14.708  
July17 51223 Winnipeg-MB Coop 1.344 25.300 34.00 653 14.415 used 20-litres from jerrycan, to end with tank full, jerrycan empty
TOTAL       783.5281179.4910883    

The average cost of petrol was $1.505 per litre, which is 12% higher than the "within civilization" price at this time.  In general, the price goes up as one goes north, however the steepest price is encountered in EaglePlains-YT, at a petrol-vendor that happens to be the only one on a long lonely unpopulated stretch of road near the arctic-circle. 

My car averaged 13.9 km/litre (39.2 mpg) or 7.20 litres/100km, which is 20% worse than its "highway" rating of 6.0 litres/100km.  Most days we did way too much stopping, to photograph animals, birds, plants, etc, for optimal fuel-efficiency;  and when not driving too slowly I typically drive too fast;  however, on the night of July05 when the Eagle-Plains Service-Station was closed by the time we got there, then we made every effort to drive for economy from there to Dawson-City:-)  Unfortunately our efforts don't show, because the first part of that tank was used in "city" driving in and around Inuvik.  Note: the Litres and Dollars columns show the amount purchased; the km-per-litre column takes transfers into- and from- jerrycan into account.  Those per-tank computations, although useful chiefly as an anomaly-detecting aid, also appear to show that at its best my car can deliver close to the rated 16.7 km/litre (47.1 mpg) for "highway" driving. 

Update: a "slideshow" of photos from this trip by myself, Doris, and Peggy is available at www.nativeorchid.org/IT-InuvikTrip.htm.